Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: The Teen Titans don't get along with the newest team. The result is April Fool pranks against each other. The pranks escalate, until Robin gets hit, resulting in things having gotten really out of hand. (Slightly AU from the rest of the Beyond the Night series.)
1. Nagging Feeling

_Disclaimer – I don't' own Teen Titans or Young Justice._

 _Note – This story ties into my Beyond the Night series but is also slightly AU to the stories I plan on writing later. For example, I expect the team roster will differ by April 1, 2011. I do expect Artemis, Supergirl and Wonder Girl (Donna) will be additions to the team. When the team finds out Robin is leader also differs. Pretty much I was running with an idea that popped into my head for the April 2018 Just Write It, for which the theme was April Fools prank going terribly wrong. I didn't quite hit the 9.5-10k mark for the month, but may not at all, so I'm going ahead and posting the story. Here is what readers who don't want to go and read the other stories need to know._

 _\- The Teen Titans came first, but were disbanded due to the incident with Trigon in the cartoon series._

 _\- Roy feels the Teen Titans are why their mentors don't treat them like adults, yet outright says he hates the Teen Titans leader. Except, he's got a soft spot for Robin which teeters constantly between admiration, overprotecting and not knowing what to do with someone Robin's age._

 _\- Robin is terrified of the team finding out. He's also allergic to cacti._

 _\- Zatanna is not de-aged as much, but is den mother._

 **Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Nagging Feelings**_

A pair of robin blue eyes stared out the pizza parlor window, wondering if the three were doing the right thing. Sunglasses covered his eyes, in part to block the bright sun of Happy Harbor someone from Gotham wasn't used to. In reality, the existed to hide his blue eyes which made him highly identifiable. In the back of his head, the thought of whether leaving the other members of the team to work things out among themselves nagged at the back of his head.

"Raven and I placed our order. It should be out in fifteen, thirty minutes."

Robin's head turned towards the voice, his small hands clutching the sleeves of his civvies. "Kaldur, are you sure this was a good idea. The Teen Titans and new team which doesn't yet have a name don't get along. In fact, outside of Zatanna, you're the only one from the new team who knows I was the leader of the Teen Titans and that…"

"You didn't mess up." Raven slid into the booth next to him, nudging him to scoot over with her elbow.

"Agreed." Kaldur took a deep breath. "They need to get along, but Red Arrow needs to stop making assumptions. Plus, what can go wrong? Zatanna's shown she is quite the capable den mother, has she not."

"It's just that…" Robin glanced down at his watch, noticing the date. "I'm not sure _today_ was the best day to choose."

"You kept procrastinating about this, and I've been looking forward to a day away from Beast Boy, and the girls, and, well, everyone. Except you guys. You guys aren't annoying."

"Come on. They're not that bad." Robin flinched, watching Raven glare at him. He let the corners of his mouth twist slightly, as if tempting her to realize something important. "Are you sure there wasn't something else you were looking forward to, today?"

"You mean that date Beast Boy thinks he's taking me on, which he is absolutely not? No thank you."

Robin sighed, wondering if things could get any worse.


	2. Salt and Vinegar

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Salt and Vinegar**_

Artemis didn't like the atmosphere permeating Mount Justice upon arrival. Under normal circumstances the atmosphere remained tense, what with the sidekicks not getting along with the Titans. She'd overheard Roy blaming the Teen Titans for why the adults didn't take them seriously, and yet she felt her own mentor took her quite seriously, giving her chances she never thought she'd ever have due to her background.

" _It's never crossed Roy's mind that he's simply never given the League any reason to treat him seriously._ " Of course, defining the sides as sidekicks versus Titans proved misleading, as Superboy wasn't the protégée of Superman yet, and Robin seemed fine with the Titans. Then again, one of Robin's natural talents amounted to making friends with everyone he met, but she found herself tempted at times to tell him the truth regarding who she was.

Today something was different.

Beast Boy sat on the couch slouching while Cyborg pounded his fingers into the game controller. Starfire hovered literally as she watched over the boy's shoulder. From the kitchen Superboy and Red Arrow watched. Both young men glared at the Titans, though Artemis attributed this more to the way Superboy was than any negative impression. The resident speedster dug around looking for food, a typical annoyance.

The person currently keeping an eye on things walked by. "Is something going on today? Where are Donna and Kara?"

Zatanna looked up, frowning. "Nothing's going on, unless you count whatever Aqualad, Robin and Raven are doing today. As for where those two are, they're in the greenhouse. Donna's apparently helping Kara out with her plants."

Artemis sighed, thinking today would be rather boring. She walked over, just as Wally found a plate of cookies in a rather odd location. Roy leaned into his arms. "They're so annoying."

"Come on. Rob's fine with them." Kid Flash laughed, waving his hand, either forgetting or not noticing the fact Beast Boy seemed jealous of the friendship between Flash and Batman's sidekicks. Kid Flash bit into one of the cookies, making a funny face as he did.

"Robin's fine with everyone," Superboy pointed out to his companion.

"Yes. He's definitely fine with everyone." Roy glared at Beast Boy, who was still slouching where he sat in the couch. The green boy seemed interested strangely enough in what was going on in the kitchen.

Kid Flash continued chowing down on the cookies, making strange faces. Beast Boy's lip started turning into a smirk just as Cyborg looked over, an amused look spreading over his face as well. Roy noticed, but found himself looking around. He noticed the speedster downing his sixth cookie. "Why are you making that face?"

"The cookies taste funny."

Artemis watched the two other boys reach out for a cookie, something she wouldn't have done. She honestly didn't wish to know _where_ Kid Flash got said cookies, but almost blamed the _place_ for why the cookies tasted so horrible. She watched Red Arrow and Superboy turn slightly green, which made Starfire turn towards the kitchen and shout. "April Fools!"

The next thing Artemis knew, the three Titans were off running, the video game Cyborg was playing completely abandoned. Red Arrow dived for the refrigerator, finding himself chugging down the jug of milk to get rid of the taste, while Superboy grabbed a glass of water and attempted washing his mouth out instead. "Salt! They switched the sugar for salt!"

Kid Flash pointed in the direction the three ran in. "You! I'm going to get you back for this! Don't think you can mess with the king of pranks!" The teen's eyes widened, his head turning. "Hey, Artemis…"

"I'm not helping."

"But Rob's not here to help me."

"I am not participating in this feud you guys have going on with the Titans. I'm just not." She walked off, hoping to find Donna and Kara sooner rather than later.


	3. Prank Back

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Prank Back**_

"Let's get ahold of a grenade launcher and turn it into a silly string canon."

"What happens when the grenade launcher blows up in your face because you used it for something it wasn't built for?" Red Arrow leaned up against the wall.

"Good point." Kid Flash let out a sigh. "Let's do the classic bucket of slime prank."

"First of all, that's childish. Second, they're going to expect us to escalate. And how long did it take for you to come up with that?"

"About five minutes. My time."

"I think it would work." Kid Flash and Red Arrow looked at Superboy.

"What do you mean?" One of Roy's eyebrow's shot up.

"You just said they expect us to escalate, so they won't expect it."

Roy frowned. "Fine. You have a point. We'll go with the classic bucket of slime." Kid Flash rushed off, quickly coming back with a bucket of green slime. "Wait. Where did you get that bucket of slime?"

"I got it from Robin's slime canon from the Batcave."

"His what?" Roy's eyes widened.

"How come we're not using that?" Superboy asked.

"Because that would be escalating, and they would expect that."

"Why does Robin have a slime canon?" Roy lifted one of his eyebrows.

"He repurposed one of Jokers canons. I think it shot acid balls or something."

"So, where are we going to _put_ this bucket of slime." Superboy leaned in.

"Outside of the girls' bathroom." Kid Flash jiggled the bucket. "We'll get Starfire." A smile broke across his face. "I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"


	4. Bathroom Humor

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Bathroom Humor**_

"It is too bad Robin and Raven are not here to enjoy April Fools day with us." Starfire smiled at her to companions.

Beast Boy sighed. "Well, _the_ team certainly isn't too thrilled about us pranking them, but then again, they're all sticks in the mud except for Robin."

"What about Kaldur? Kaldur is cool." Cyborg piped up.

"Please tell me you've not been hanging out with the enemy again." Beast Boy folded his thin green arms across his chest. "Need I remind you that guy stole the leadership position from Robin?"

Starfire hovered in the air. "Did Aqualad steal the position of leadership from Robin if Robin did not want said position in the first place?"

"Hell yeah!" Beast Boy threw his fist up into the air. "This April Fools, we're going to make them pay for making us Teen Titans look like fools."

Cyborg frowned. "I thought we were doing April Fools pranks as a bonding activity."

"That's what we want the adults to think and is what we'll blame everything on if the others should complain! Which they will! Because they're not cool like us!"

"They most certainly are not." Starfire continued hovering in the air. "What shall our next prank against…" The female alien did air quotes. "…the team be?"

"I think we should do a classic TP gag." Cyborg piped up, holding up his finger. "Particularly since I have a TP canon built in, but don't tell any of the adults that lest they think I'm super immature. It is simply used for purposes becoming of someone my age."

"Oh. I believe this is what is called a potty mouth joke, right?" Starfire clapped her hands."

Cyborg frowned. "Um, no. It's called bathroom humor."

"Close enough." Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, why don't you go and count the toilet paper we have to use." A giggled escaped his mouth. "Start in the boy's bathroom."

One of Cyborg's eyes shot up. "Wait."

"Okay."

"Hold on! I wasn't finished!" Beast boy continued laughing. "If one of the boy's walks in, you're to jump out of the stall and scream April Fools, okay?"

Starfire nodded her head and flew off. Cyborg sighed. "Okay. That is just so wrong."

"What?"

"Having her go into the boy's bathroom. Plus, doesn't she count toilet paper by the individual sheets."

"Yeah. Why was he doing that?"

"Something about school and math. I had something to do with wanting to annoy his teachers by doing a mathematical comparison of the amount of toilet paper on a toilet paper roll just because he could."

"So, his math class was doing bar graphs?" Beast Boy smiled. "I would have used toilet paper parts to illustrate the amounts."

"Yeah, I don't think that's what Robin was doing."

"Sure. You telling me Robin's mathlete? Nah. He just took the easy way out for homework. I do it all the time."

"You don't go to school."

"As I said, I do it all the time."


	5. Slimed

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Slimed**_

"So, if you were to date one of the guys on the team, who would it be?" Kara's question rattled around in the back of Artemis' head as she turned off the water flowing into the sink.

"Come on. You know I hate girly things such as gossiping about guys and such." Artemis reached for the toilet paper dispenser. "Isn't this also like some kind of high school cliché, us talking about guys in the bathroom."

"The bathroom at Mount Justice," Kara held up a finger, a smirk spreading across her face.

"Plus, how come guys get to talk about girls and not be considered gossips or vilified for discussing how hot our bodies are?" Donna leaned up against the wall. "Actually, I'd say that would be part of the criteria for me. So, Kid Flash, Beast Boy and Cyborg are out. So's Robin."

Artemis frowned. "When was the last time you heard Robin talking about how hot a girl was. I mean, outside of him admitting that a girl is hot when one of those three bring it up, but he's rather nonchalant about it."

"Don't you mean chalant? Isn't that the word he'd use?" Supergirl let out a laugh. "I'd actually personally rank Robin number one on the list."

Donna sighed. "You'd actually date a guy younger than you? That's actually why he's not on my list."

Artemis sighed. "Yeah, that is a turn off."

"No. I'm thinking of in the future, but also what the dream guy to date is. Even with the mask, you can tell he is going to be a looker, so any girl who gets to be his girlfriend is a looker."

A frown spread across Artemis' face as she started towards the bathroom door. "Wait. Aren't we doing what we just said we don't like guys doing?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Whatever Kara was going to say was interrupted by a bucket of slime pouring over Artemis' head as she opened the door to the bathroom.


	6. Joke On You

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** _ **Joke on You**_

The practical joke should have worked. They calculated everything to a precise measurement. When someone came out of the bathroom, they would be getting slimed.

What Wally didn't factor in was who that would be.

Superboy and Red Arrow found themselves hiding in the janitor's closet across from the bathroom entrances waiting patiently. The space proved quite crowded as they waited for Starfire to come out. The clone took a deep breath. "So, are we sure this is a good idea?"

"Kid Flash said nothing could go wrong. Now shush, or we'll be found out." The door to the bathroom started to open, and they expected Starfire to appear and get slimed. "So, green slime in red hair's kind of funny."

"Yeah, I'm not so…" Superboy stopped whispering, realizing suddenly exactly who got slimed. The person in question most definitely did not have red hair. Instead, they had blond hair, but didn't have any super powers, which was in some way even more scary. He could hear Red Arrow's heart beat increase at the surprise. "Wh…

A loud slam rang out as the door to the boy's bathroom flew off the hinges, and Starfire flew out. She yelled, "April fools!"

Red Arrow attempted holding back his laughter at the look on Artemis' face, as it went from anger to utter shock. Shock also appeared on Wondergirl and Supergirl's faces. Superboy attempted wrapping his mind around why Starfire was in the boy's bathroom, but found his face twisting up in disgust at the idea she'd done so in the past.

A yellow flash sped up, and Kid Flash hurried up, a big grin on his face. "April… wait." The team speedster raised his finger. "Did you just come out of the boy's bathroom?"

"Yes."

Superboy and Red Arrow thought it best to come out at that point.

"What…" Kid Flash almost asked what she was doing in there, but turned towards the girl's bathroom. "If I didn't slime you, who…" He turned, watching Artemis fold her arms across her chest, her eyes narrowing in irritation. "Oh. I am so out…"

He turned, crashing into Superboy's chest and falling to the floor. Supergirl pointed at the clone. "Wait. You were in on this?"

"Well, apparently this is some kind of Earth tradition." Superboy frowned. He pointed at Starfire. " _Why_ were you in the boy's bathroom?"

Kid Flash stood up, dashing off quickly to avoid Artemis, who wiped smile from her face. "Yes. Why?"

"April fools!" Starfire flew off then, leaving everyone confused. Red Arrow grabbed Superboy. "Come on. We've got to think of a better prank to pull against them."


	7. Girl Gossip

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** ** _Girl Gossip_**

"Those idiots." Artemis found herself back in the bathroom attempting to rinse the slime out of her hair.

Kara frowned. "So, I'd say Red Arrow is also off my list of guys I'm interested in dating?"

Donna's eyes widened from where she stood against the bathroom stalls. "Why aren't you including Superboy on that list?"

"Because he was already not on my list because we're related." Kara rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Ah, there is that." Donna sighed. "How come Aqualad and Robin are the only decent guys worth dating? Of course, neither are a go as Robin's to young, and Aqualad is – well, dating someone under the sea's not the best experience."

"Because teenage males are normally immature and don't grow up until…" Artemis frowned, her mind drifting to her mentor. Some of the things Green Arrow did made her question his maturity levels. "Actually, do guys ever grow up?"

"Don't know." Donna shrugged.

"We need to get the guys back." Artemis rung her hair out.

"You know, Robin's going to be a major looker when he gets older, but you might say he's already grown up."

A snort left Artemis' nose. "Really? Are we talking about the same person Kara? Last time I checked Robin is always running around laughing his head off as if he's just gone insane."

"Not when the Titans are involved. His attitude does a complete one-eighty." Donna glanced at her fingernails. "Either of you notice that?"

"Robin has his secrets. Still, you guys are avoiding the fact Robin would definitely be worth dating once he gets older."

"If you want to go through Starfire that is." Artemis pushed the button on the hairdryer and lowered her head underneath, yet she found the position rather uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Kara's blue eyes widened.

"Don't you know they're dating?" Artemis let out a sigh knowing full well she'd done her best with her hair.

"Robin, master of giving you the bat glare and going into bat mode actually is dating miss sunshine and cotton candy?" Kara shook her head. "No way."

"Yes way." Donna rolled her eyes. "Drives my mentor nuts." She froze upon seeing Kara and Artemis staring at her. "What?"

"So, was I the only one who didn't know for sure?" Kara shook her head.

"I didn't exactly know for sure, but I felt it was rather obvious." Artemis took a deep breath. "I'd much rather discuss the fact we should be getting revenge on the guys rather than Kara's obsession with Robin."

"I'm not obsessed. I'm just conjecturing what he'll be like when he gets older." Kara's mouth twitched slightly. "Do you think they'll be dating when they get older? Do you think it will work out?"

"Possibly. I don't really know either very well beyond as you call it the whole bad mode and cotton candy stuff you mentioned. Kid Flash is pretty good friends with Robin, yet I think he's oblivious to the fact Robin and Starfire are dating." Artemis took a deep breath. "Seriously, let's focus on getting the guys back.


	8. Did It

**Beyond the Night: Beyond the Fool  
** ** _Did It_**

Starfire was having a good time. Specifically, in her mind, everything was going alright, yet she wasn't at all perturbed by the fact the boys who were members of _the_ team looked at her as if she'd done something wrong. She didn't even pay attention to the fact the girls from _the_ team just came out of the other bathroom, at least not beyond the fact one of the girls got slimed.

She hurried back to Cyborg and Beast Boy. The two were back to lounging in the front room, snacking quite purposefully on Kid Flash's hidden stash of food. Or at least Beast Boy was. Cyborg seemed more focused on making cookies. "I did it!"

"You actually counted all of the toilet paper already?" Cyborg looked at her as if she'd achieved something amazing.

"No. I flew out of the bathroom and screamed April Fools like Beast Boy said." She flew over to Cyborg. "You know, I don't think Kid Flash will fall for the nasty food trick again."

"Well, right there's the trick. They actually _don't_ taste nasty."

Beast Boy's mouth twisted, thinking over what Starfire said. "Wait a second. I told you to fly out of the bathroom stall if one of the boys walked into the bathroom."

"Oh. Well, the boys slimed one of the girls."

"Ooh… not good." Cyborg let out a chuckle.

"Good! That means they'll have to worry about the girls sneaking up on them."

Starfire pondered what Beast Boy said. "Won't we have to worry as well."

"Uh, no."

"Because we have a girl on our team?"

"Sure Starfire. Whatever you say."

"I think he was referring to the fact we weren't the ones who attacked them. Still, I wouldn't put it past them to pull a prank on us as well." Cyborg – if it was at all possible – shuddered.

"Why? Why would you say that? For once, we didn't do anything?"

"Don't you get it? They have both Wonder Girl and Supergirl."

"Yeah, I got that. And?"

"And they're led by Artemis!"

Beast Boy's eyes blinked. The look on his face indicated a lightbulb suddenly went off. "Oh."

"Oh? What does oh mean?" Starfire didn't get what had both Cyborg and Beast Boy worried.

"Well…" Beast Boy wasn't sure how to put it.

"Artemis isn't that scary."

"You've also never, ever gotten on her bad side."

"I still haven't. I've not pranked her today, but I would think that she would be all for a prank as that is in the spirit of April Fool's day."

"Yeah… you really don't get it." Beast Boy shuddered.

"Then again, she's likely to aim her attacks at us and not Starfire."

"I still don't follow. Why would she attack? It is April Fools day. We're supposed to do April Fools pranks, not attack each other."

"Uh…" Cyborg removed his cookies from the oven.

"What Cyborg is getting at is that the pranks are the attacks for today, but Cyborg and I might get caught in the crossfire."

"Oh. I guess I'll get out of the way because I am fast and can fly."

"Well… something like that." Beast Boy let out a sigh.

"Anyways, what should we plan next?" Starfire slammed a fist into the palm of her hand. "We should be thinking of that instead.


End file.
